Houston TV Lost Media Thread - Requests and More

[ChannelTwoNews]

I know there's been an increase in interest in what's been dubbed "lost media" in recent years - i.e.: content or materials tied to productions that either are exceptionally rare or otherwise hard to find through conventional means, for whatever reason. While I think the term has been watered down somewhat, it is still kind of cool to either see something that hasn't been seen in a long time or otherwise offers insight into some aspect of the medium.

I thought it would be an interesting question to pose if anyone had any requests for rare or random things they've seen on tv locally over the years. I've gotten them over the years on my YouTube channels and it's been kind of nice to actually find or fulfill some of them when/if I can.

A personal request is something I may or may not have - I just don't know any more. I'd seen the tape ages ago and now I simply can't find it.

Rick's Furniture: The RIck's Furniture "Show" & Commercials - 2000-2002

Basically an infomercial for the old RIck's Furniture locations (4114 N. Freeway / 13705 E. Freeway / 5025 Jensen Dr.) that began right around the year 2000. It showed up pretty frequently at around 5 AM on Channel 39 for a while. Later that year, it picked up a near-permanent berth on Channel 55 at 4 AM - in between a rerun of Have Gun, Will Travel and First Business - so it was easy to record as it was on almost EVERY morning. It was hosted by local musician Bruce Middleton who, at various times, was either paired with a woman to talk about some of the special deals or a kid to show off the comfort of the furniture. It looked like the perfect 4 AM infomercial as well. It likely was spliced together from two halves as the first half was a bit more professionally done. The second half had some odd gaps and scenes that held a moment or two too long as well as a take where the host flubbed a line and immediately tried to pick it back up with zero editing. 

I seem to recall reading an article online around that time (when it was still airing) from a paper in Montgomery County or somewhere on the north side that profiled him and mentioned his work in the infomercial. He had a quote to the extent of "The music that I did for that was really special"... but from what I remember it was just a reworked version of Grover Washington Jr.'s Mister Magic  and a few various clips of him playing the Rick's Furniture jingle (You'll find at Rick's Furniture / we've got prices you can live with) on the sax. 

The infomercial was STILL airing well into 2001. Only stopped in the late summer. Recall running into it a couple of weeks before 9/11 and then it was just pulled. 

Mr. Middleton was in their fantastic commercials that aired around that same time as well. I know I have a few of those. One had a version where he generally pitched the place and there was a spot where he would pause and respond to a respond to an off camera comment that said "Whoa, those are some crazy prices!" and he would say "Crazy prices yeah!". It was hastily edited in, though the version where there's only awkward silence (in place of the off camera comment) actually aired a number of times.  Usually in the graveyard hours.

Another one he sang and danced a bit in went something like...

Whatchu gonna give me for that bedroom set?

Whatchu gonna give me for that sofa set?

Whatchu gonna give me for that dinette set?

Hoooooh, yeah!

The furniture maaannnn, is in the house!

At the time, I thought it would be great to get online but we just didn't have the video sharing or streaming tech we do today. If I ever find it, it's all going up on my channel.

[Blue Dogs]

Subscribed!

[ChannelTwoNews]

KTRK: Eyewitness News for Kids - 1992/93?-1997 or 1998

This was an outgrowth of a regular series of documentaries that the station was producing under the umbrella "Channel 13 Presents..." which aired generally on Saturday evenings, IIRC as a replacement for the long-running Eyewitness Houston. Instead of evenings, this aired on Saturday mornings, I think at one point at 6:30 AM, then in later years at 11:30AM or noon. The original hosts were Don Nelson and Lisa Trapani (Shumate), fresh from their stint on Good Morning Houston. When Lisa Trapani left, I think Gina Gaston was the most frequent co-host in the later years. It was what you'd expect - a few kid-friendly news stories from the previous week, along with a look at the HISD lunch menu, which I think was presented by a different kid each week.

The most entertaining bit, though, was near the end of each episode when Marvin Zindler would read a story (classic or not) and it went about as well as you could imagine such a thing going. There were some bloopers of that segment in the old Debra Duncan tribute episode to him from the late 90s that I once posted on YouTube, which I will have to dig up once more. His sign off was also what you'd expect: Maaaarvin Zindler, Eye-witness News.... Fer Kids!

The graphics were pretty fun as well - animated chalk drawings. I distinctly remember a bit with the animated news van driving around town with the old logo which was updated when the new one was put into use in the mid 90s. Neat to see they were consistent with their imaging even then.

I am genuinely surprised nothing of this show has shown up on any of the video sites over the years. Just a matter of time, I'm sure.

Edited September 27, 2023 by ChannelTwoNews
Updated description.

[ChannelTwoNews]

KNWS: Houston's Own Talent (HOT) TV Show

"You're... You're Watchin' HOT... The Best Houston's Got..."

- The intro theme, if you can imagine, a soulful signer with a flute / smooth jazz accompaniment, backed by what seemed to be PowerPoint animated graphics

Remember running into this show right around 2000-2001 for the first time on Channel 51. I think it was on Friday night or Saturday at midnight. The host was Malik Rasheed. Honestly, it reminded me of a contemporary Houston version of the legendary New York public access spectacle that was Stairway to Stardom, with a slight amount of polish. Mr. Rasheed seemed super earnest and wanted to give all kinds of singers and artists the spotlight. He also promised that he had production crews, event rental teams and a self-published magazine that he said was sent to all sorts of people in the entertainment industry to get them additional exposure. There was a decent mix of R&B artists and in later years, rappers. Sometimes there were professionally shot videos in lieu of an in-house performance.

The BIG event Mr. Rasheed seemed to sponsor was the "Hoop 4 Hope Classic" to raise money for disadvantaged youths, from what I remember. 

And there was an absolutely amazing promo video he shot/produced/sang for regarding it. And I remember some of the lyrics...

Come on everybody / let's get ready to ball

It's the Hoop 4 Hope Classic / and it's Free-for-All

We got barbecue, t-shirts / and plenty to drink

I know it's all good / but what do you think?

Bring the babies, the teens / and the whole family

--- a few other lines leading to the chorus---

Keep hope alive in the world / Keep hope alive

Keep hope alive in the world / Don't let hope die

The great bargain basement effects made it pop. 

I don't know what happened to Mr. Rasheed or his ventures ultimately. I know the show continued on for a number of years and seemed to morph into a lower-budget Street Flava. I think I taped that Hoop 4 Hope clip once but have yet to find it.

[Blue Dogs]

18 hours ago, ChannelTwoNews said:

KTRK: Eyewitness News for Kids - 1992/93?-1997 or 1998

This was an outgrowth of a regular series of documentaries that the station was producing under the umbrella "Channel 13 Presents..." which aired generally on Saturday evenings, IIRC as a replacement for the long-running Eyewitness Houston. Instead of evenings, this aired on Saturday mornings, I think at one point at 6:30 AM, then in later years at 11:30AM or noon. The original hosts were Don Nelson and Lisa Trapani (Shumate), fresh from their stint on Good Morning Houston. When Lisa Trapani left, I think Gina Gaston was the most frequent co-host in the later years. It was what you'd expect - a few kid-friendly news stories from the previous week, along with a look at the HISD lunch menu, which I think was presented by a different kid each week.

The most entertaining bit, though, was near the end of each episode when Marvin Zindler would read a story (classic or not) and it went about as well as you could imagine such a thing going. There were some bloopers of that segment in the old Debra Duncan tribute episode to him from the late 90s that I once posted on YouTube, which I will have to dig up once more. His sign off was also what you'd expect: Maaaarvin Zindler, Eye-witness News.... Fer Kids!

The graphics were pretty fun as well - animated chalk drawings. I distinctly remember a bit with the animated news van driving around town with the old logo which was updated when the new one was put into use in the mid 90s. Neat to see they were consistent with their imaging even then.

I am genuinely surprised nothing of this show has shown up on any of the video sites over the years. Just a matter of time, I'm sure.

Hoping there's some videos of archived episodes. 

[ChannelTwoNews]

A couple of Spanish-language entries from KTMD

KTMD: Ganatelo - 2002-2003-ish?

I remember coming across this show during a weekend back around 2002 or 2003. Saturday afternoon when there was almost nothing else on, maybe 4 or 5 PM. It was hosted by the station's longtime personality Marcello Marini (probably better known to most of the area that isn't of a certain age or doesn't speaks Spanish from his family's empanada restaurants) who at that point was in charge of community affairs and he was joined by a female co-host. There was a prize wheel involved and I think viewers could call in and win money after answering a question or two. It also had a fairly catchy theme song from what I recall, but I've never seen anything about this show up online. I was really surprised it was (a) a show and (b) it had viewers!. Maybe that's the point? 

also

KTMD: Carmen's Boutique Infomercial - 2007

Does anyone remember the Carmen's Secreto (at this point they had been renamed to simply "Carmen's Boutique") locations and billboards along the freeways from the late 90s or early 2000s? Then you may remember the lady who appeared in their media - Carmen Barone. She was the host of this amazing infomercial and it was a half-hour of incredible footage. I recall her speaking a mix of Spanglish and slightly broken english to try and "entice" the viewers to visit. She was dressed similarly to what you might remember from the billboards and dropping the word "sexy" a lot. It was super entertaining - not titillating - but really funny (intentionally or not) and I sincerely wish someone had recorded it. Only saw it once late on a Saturday or Sunday night.

Carmen is still around, albeit with more clothing on, as a design consultant with Noel Furniture

 

[Blue Dogs]

On 10/9/2023 at 4:09 PM, ChannelTwoNews said:

A couple of Spanish-language entries from KTMD

KTMD: Ganatelo - 2002-2003-ish?

I remember coming across this show during a weekend back around 2002 or 2003. Saturday afternoon when there was almost nothing else on, maybe 4 or 5 PM. It was hosted by the station's longtime personality Marcello Marini (probably better known to most of the area that isn't of a certain age or doesn't speaks Spanish from his family's empanada restaurants) who at that point was in charge of community affairs and he was joined by a female co-host. There was a prize wheel involved and I think viewers could call in and win money after answering a question or two. It also had a fairly catchy theme song from what I recall, but I've never seen anything about this show up online. I was really surprised it was (a) a show and (b) it had viewers!. Maybe that's the point? 

also

KTMD: Carmen's Boutique Infomercial - 2007

Does anyone remember the Carmen's Secreto (at this point they had been renamed to simply "Carmen's Boutique") locations and billboards along the freeways from the late 90s or early 2000s? Then you may remember the lady who appeared in their media - Carmen Barone. She was the host of this amazing infomercial and it was a half-hour of incredible footage. I recall her speaking a mix of Spanglish and slightly broken english to try and "entice" the viewers to visit. She was dressed similarly to what you might remember from the billboards and dropping the word "sexy" a lot. It was super entertaining - not titillating - but really funny (intentionally or not) and I sincerely wish someone had recorded it. Only saw it once late on a Saturday or Sunday night.

Carmen is still around, albeit with more clothing on, as a design consultant with Noel Furniture

 

Whatever happened to Carmen Barone ?

[ChannelTwoNews]

idk.

[ttenneB]

Anything from KPRC: TV Kitchen (1953?-195?) hosted by Jane Christopher

Firstly, I don’t know much about this show other than that my great-grandmother was on it at one point, and I can only hardly find mentions of its existence plus one or two photos of sets on Facebook. Wish I knew more.

I do have a bit of a background in archival, so I know that live (at least I believe it was live) shows like this weren’t often archived in any way, at least beyond a bit of photography. Video tape was still in its infancy and nobody was going to be using film for anything like that.

People like to throw the term “lost media” around a lot nowadays, often as a stretch, but I feel like this is the kind of thing that truly classifies as such.

That being said, my hope is that someone somewhere has, at the very least, some interesting information or stories regarding this one.

[JLWM8609]

On 4/21/2023 at 12:20 PM, ChannelTwoNews said:

I know there's been an increase in interest in what's been dubbed "lost media" in recent years - i.e.: content or materials tied to productions that either are exceptionally rare or otherwise hard to find through conventional means, for whatever reason. While I think the term has been watered down somewhat, it is still kind of cool to either see something that hasn't been seen in a long time or otherwise offers insight into some aspect of the medium.

I thought it would be an interesting question to pose if anyone had any requests for rare or random things they've seen on tv locally over the years. I've gotten them over the years on my YouTube channels and it's been kind of nice to actually find or fulfill some of them when/if I can.

A personal request is something I may or may not have - I just don't know any more. I'd seen the tape ages ago and now I simply can't find it.

Rick's Furniture: The RIck's Furniture "Show" & Commercials - 2000-2002

Basically an infomercial for the old RIck's Furniture locations (4114 N. Freeway / 13705 E. Freeway / 5025 Jensen Dr.) that began right around the year 2000. It showed up pretty frequently at around 5 AM on Channel 39 for a while. Later that year, it picked up a near-permanent berth on Channel 55 at 4 AM - in between a rerun of Have Gun, Will Travel and First Business - so it was easy to record as it was on almost EVERY morning. It was hosted by local musician Bruce Middleton who, at various times, was either paired with a woman to talk about some of the special deals or a kid to show off the comfort of the furniture. It looked like the perfect 4 AM infomercial as well. It likely was spliced together from two halves as the first half was a bit more professionally done. The second half had some odd gaps and scenes that held a moment or two too long as well as a take where the host flubbed a line and immediately tried to pick it back up with zero editing. 

I seem to recall reading an article online around that time (when it was still airing) from a paper in Montgomery County or somewhere on the north side that profiled him and mentioned his work in the infomercial. He had a quote to the extent of "The music that I did for that was really special"... but from what I remember it was just a reworked version of Grover Washington Jr.'s Mister Magic  and a few various clips of him playing the Rick's Furniture jingle (You'll find at Rick's Furniture / we've got prices you can live with) on the sax. 

The infomercial was STILL airing well into 2001. Only stopped in the late summer. Recall running into it a couple of weeks before 9/11 and then it was just pulled. 

Mr. Middleton was in their fantastic commercials that aired around that same time as well. I know I have a few of those. One had a version where he generally pitched the place and there was a spot where he would pause and respond to a respond to an off camera comment that said "Whoa, those are some crazy prices!" and he would say "Crazy prices yeah!". It was hastily edited in, though the version where there's only awkward silence (in place of the off camera comment) actually aired a number of times.  Usually in the graveyard hours.

Another one he sang and danced a bit in went something like...

Whatchu gonna give me for that bedroom set?

Whatchu gonna give me for that sofa set?

Whatchu gonna give me for that dinette set?

Hoooooh, yeah!

The furniture maaannnn, is in the house!

At the time, I thought it would be great to get online but we just didn't have the video sharing or streaming tech we do today. If I ever find it, it's all going up on my channel.

Bruce is my cousin. You just unlocked a memory. He was also in the Thunder Soul documentary in 2010 about Conrad Johnson.